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Where did it go wrong? Marriage and divorce in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Laurens Cherchye
  • Bram De Rock
  • Selma Telalagic Walther
  • Frederic Vermeulen

Abstract

Do individuals divorce for economic reasons? Can we measure the attractiveness of new matches in the marriage market? We answer these questions using a structural model of the household and a rich panel dataset from Malawi. We propose a model of the household with consumption, production and revealed preference conditions for stability on the marriage market. We define marital instability in terms of the consumption gains to remarrying another individual in the same marriage market, and to being single. We find that a 1 percentage point increase in the wife's estimated consumption gains from remarriage is significantly associated with a 0:6 percentage point increase in divorce probability in the next three years. In a multinomial model, higher values of consumption gains from remarriage raise the odds of divorce and remarriage but not of divorce and singleness. These findings provide out-of-sample validation of the structural model and shed new light on the economic determinants of divorce.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurens Cherchye & Bram De Rock & Selma Telalagic Walther & Frederic Vermeulen, 2016. "Where did it go wrong? Marriage and divorce in Malawi," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven 535656, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    • Handle: RePEc:ete:ceswps:535656
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    2. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang & Kilic, Talip & Moylan, Heather, 2021. "Investment impacts of gendered land rights in customary tenure systems: Substantive and methodological insights from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Mikhail Freer & Khushboo Surana, 2023. "Stable Marriage, Children, and Intrahousehold Allocations," Papers 2302.08541, arXiv.org.
    4. Kazungu, Khatibu & Byaro, Mwoya, 2023. "Road to Divorce in Tanzania: What are the Main Factors?," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 11(5), December.
    5. Freer, Mikhail & Surana, Khushboo, 2025. "Marital stability with committed couples: A revealed preference analysis," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 131-159.
    6. Ugo Bolletta & Laurens Cherchye & Thomas Demuynck & Bram De Rock & Luca Paolo Merlino, 2024. "Identifying Marriage Markets," Working Papers ECARES 2024-12, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Martin Browning & Laurens Cherchye & Thomas Demuynck & Bram De Rock & Frederic Vermeulen, 2024. "Spouses with Benefits: on Match Quality and Consumption inside Households," Working Papers ECARES 2024-11, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Mallick, Debdulal & Roy Chowdhury, Prabal, 2020. "Natural shocks and marriage markets: Fluctuations in mehr and dowry in Muslim marriages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    9. Djuikom, Marie Albertine & van de Walle, Dominique, 2022. "Marital status and women’s nutrition in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Elin Colmsjoe, 2025. "A Flying Start intergenerational Transfers , Wealth Accumalation, and Entrepreneurship of Descendants," CEBI working paper series 24-02, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    11. Shyamal Chowdhury & Debdulal Mallick & Prabal Roy Chowdhury, 2017. "Natural Shock and Marriage Markets: Evolution of Mehr and Dowry in Muslim Marriages," Discussion Papers 17-02, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure

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